Field
The present invention relates to a technology with regard to a plug member configured to close a liquid inlet.
Related Art
A plug member has been conventionally known to close a liquid inlet of a liquid container assembly (for example, JP 2012-51306A). The plug member disclosed in JP 2012-51306A is detachably mounted to the liquid inlet to close the liquid inlet. This plug member includes a sealing part in a cylindrical form that is inserted into the liquid inlet to close the liquid inlet and a prominent grip portion that is disposed in a center part of a top of the sealing part. This plug member is linked with an adjacent plug member by a linkage member.
There may be various problems with regard to the technology using the plug member detachably mounted to the liquid inlet. For example, the liquid adhering to the sealing part of the plug member is likely to be splashed around when the plug member is pulled out of the liquid inlet. More specifically, for example, when the user grips the grip portion and pulls the plug member out of the liquid inlet, the plug member is pulled out along a center axis of the sealing part (i.e., center axis of the liquid inlet). In this case, the plug member is pulled out of the liquid inlet abruptly, so that the liquid adhering to the sealing part is more likely to be splashed around.
In the technique disclosed in JP 2012-51306A, the two plug members are linked by the linkage member. This may make one plug member likely to be mistakenly mounted to the other liquid inlet when the two plug members linked with each other are pulled out of the corresponding liquid inlets and are then to be mounted again to the respective inlets. This may lead to a problem that the liquid contained in a liquid container assembly having the other liquid inlet is contaminated with the liquid adhering to the mistakenly mounted plug member. In the state that the two plug members are pulled out of the corresponding liquid inlets, there is a possibility that the two plug members are lost. When the plug member is pulled out of the liquid inlet, the liquid may adhere to a mounting surface where the pulled-out plug member is placed and stain the mounting surface.
The invention has the following objects to solve at least part of the problems described above. One object of the invention is to provide a technique that reduces the likelihood that various problems arise with regard to the technology using a plug member detachably mounted to a liquid inlet. Another object of the invention is to provide a technique that reduces the likelihood that a plug member is mistakenly mounted to a liquid inlet of another liquid container assembly. Another object of the invention is to provide a technique that reduces the likelihood that a plug member is lost. Another object of the invention is to provide a technique that allows a plug member to be readily pulled out of a liquid inlet. With regard to the prior art, other needs include cost reduction, resource saving, easy manufacture and improvement of usability.